I don't know much about him, but all can see is the same mistake being made over and over and over by Liverpool and their managers - paying over the odds for ordinary players (or players with 'potential') who turn out to be no better than what was already there (who we've sold for a song or released on a free), and the whole cycle starts again.
As a club, Liverpool have wasted millions and millions in this precise manner, going right back to Souness' days. Houllier took it to a whole new level, though, before Benitez ripped the not-good-enough Houllier team apart and replaced it with his own not-good-enough team.
Taking his whole tenure into account, Benitez actually had a fairly low net spend per season - but that was only because he was forced to make a net profit in his last 2 seasons. One thing I will say in Benitez' defence is that he at least tried to go for quality, but was turned down and had to settle for distinctly second best. He had deals all but sewn up for Simao and/or Alves for around £12m each, but they were blocked (by Parry IIRC) and we ended up with Jermaine sodding Pennant, who we sold at a loss cos he was crap, and spent more still on a replacement. Short-termist penny-pinching is counter-productive
Martin
Home: St Helens (26m asl) Work: Manchester (75m asl)
A TWO addict since 14/12/01
"How can wealth persuade poverty to use its political freedom to keep wealth in power? Here lies the whole art of Conservative politics."
Aneurin Bevan